The Dubai Future Foundation has also signed an agreement with Bayt.com to provide a platform for coders to seek employment

A total of 250,000 people have applied to be the 100,000 participants in the Dubai Future Foundation's (DFF) "One Million Arab Coders" programme, the foundation announced on Saturday.

The programme seeks to instill digital and coding skills in one million young Arabs around the region. To date, more than 750,000 people have applied.

According to the DFF, the applicants will be sorted into eight annual rounds, with four academic courses in each round including smart applications development, website programming, data analysis, and smart website design.

"The ‘One Million Arab Coders' is a landmark initiative to empower Arab youth and help them acquire the skills of the future," said Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, the UAE's Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and deputy managing director of DFF.

"This embodies the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in developing the knowledge and skills of young people in the Arab region [and] keeping the up to speed with the rapidly changing demands of the labor market of the future."

Additionally, Al Olama noted that the DFF has signed a partnership agreement with Bayt.com as it "is looking to broaden the horizons of employment for programmers."

As part of the agreement, Bayt.com will provide a dedicated platform for programmers to find jobs and grant the access to consultation services and training opportunities, provided they have passed the first phase of the One Million Arab Coders Program and Coder's Challenge.

The partnership, he added, "will provide an enabling environment for them [programmers] to imagine and build their own future by mastering next-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, cognitive and biological sciences and programming."